The Chinese video pioneer has delivered a successful IPO and now wants to build an entertainment ecosystem. Yu Gong was recognized as part of 2018's Variety500 presented by VZMediaPlatform
Chinese brainiac Gong shakes off comparisons between Netflix and his creation iQIYI. Since 2018, he has played out a Disney-like strategy of diversification into literature, comics, gaming and movie theaters.
The company was set up initially as Qiyi, after Gong achieved a doctorate in engineering, sold his real-estate portal to Sohu and climbed the corporate tech ladder. Now, iQIYI has shed its dependence on parent company Baidu’s search engine and become one of the world’s most downloaded apps. It’s also a Chinese pioneer in using original content to drive paying subscriptions. In 2016, Gong and Baidu chief Robin Li cheekily bid $2.8 billion to take iQIYI private. After a 2018 IPO on NASDAQ, iQIYI is valued at some $20 billion.